Upgrades, Upkeep, and a Matching Gift Opportunity

We need your help on Wednesday, October 19. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

This summer, our staff in Thailand began to realize that the number of students participating our after-school programs and weekend classes were quickly outgrowing our current facilities. Of course, we’re thrilled to have this problem! : ) It’s incredibly exciting and encouraging to see the Resource Center and everything it offers to support students’ education so quickly and completely embraced by the kids and the community. Still, we knew we had to make plans to expand our facilities. It was time for…

RESOURCE CENTER UPGRADES

We decided to add a second classroom building to the Resource Center, drew up the blueprints, and quietly posted our goal to GlobalGiving (#8308) earlier this year. Now all we need is the funds to build it! We anticipate the total cost of this new building will be $25,000. We’re hoping to begin and complete construction in 2012. We are so grateful to those of you who have already opened your hearts (and wallets!) to support our new classroom building.

In the meantime, our programs continue to thrive at the current facility, with dozens of children coming every day after school and on the weekends to learn and play. However, our Thai staff recently brought two urgent needs to our attention, which brings us to…

RESOURCE CENTER UPKEEP

The donated desk chairs that the students have used since we first opened the center have broken from constant use and need to be replaced. At the moment, we don’t have enough seating during classes.

The water supply at the center has been drying up, leaving the students, staff, and residents without regular access to clean running water. Tawee and Blah propose installing a water tank on site to help regulate water availability through dry spells.

We’ve started another GlobalGiving project (#8843) to help meet this new need. Combined, the desks and water tank installation will cost $4,500. But before you pull out your card to give, mark your calendar, because GlobalGiving is offering…

A MATCHING GIFT OPPORTUNITY

We have an opportunity this week to make a serious dent in these projects! Starting at Midnight ET on Wednesday, October 19th and continuing all day, GlobalGiving is matching all donations (up to $1,000 per person, per project) at 30%.

That means if you give $100 toward replacing desks and providing running water to our students in Thailand, we get $130. And if you give $1,000 toward building a new classroom, GlobalGiving will add $300 to your gift.

This is GlobalGiving’s LAST Bonus Day of the year and they only have a limited amount of matching funds available so when that’s gone, it’s gone. So, on Wednesday, please don’t wait to give!

You can also help jumpstart these projects by spreading the word. If each of you tells three, five, or ten of your friends and they give, too, together we can make a huge difference. Thank you all for your continued support! You’re a vital part of our work.